Kreative Blogger Award!!

I checked my email today in class to notice I had a comment on my blog nominating me for this award!! Yippee!! Stephanie nominated me and I am so thankful! This is my first ever, so thank you thank you Stephanie!!

So here are the rules:
1-Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
2-Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3-Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4-Name 7 things about yourself that people may not know.
5-Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
6-Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7-Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they've been nominated.

Seven things you may not know

1. I really really (just of recent) started thoroughly enjoying red velvet cupcakes.
2. I also really really like salads, but mostly only when Marjorie makes them. There is just something about all the stuff she adds. Yum!
3. I enjoy working out most days! :)
4. I don't do my laundry nearly as often as I should.
5. Sometimes thinking about the future makes me nervous.

I am nominating

1. Loren - a friend from high school
2. Tanna - the beast :)
3. Erin - one of my bff's
4. Renee - she does wonders with her large family
5. Katie - she has such a passion for her family and her kids
6. Laura - a fellow beauty in Boston
7. Brooke - another beauty
8. Laura - another fellow beauty in Texas

Prayer

I saw this on a blog and it is something I needed to read .. I need to improve my prayer life.

The painful thing is what my weak prayer life says about me. Here’s the ugly truth. My lack of prayer proves…

I underestimate the power of prayer and overestimate my own ability.

I’m not really as hungry for the intimacy with God I so regularly publicly declare as a desire of my heart.

While I would like to know God’s will for my life I’m clearly more committed to my will, my plans and my agenda.

I’ve bought into the illusion that there are more important things to do than spending time with the creator of the universe.

I’ve reduced prayer to a list of things I think I want or need and I currently don’t need to “use” God for anything.

100th Post

Well, things here have been very hectic! I just got done with my Teach for America phone interview so hopefully, prayerfully, I will make it to the next round of in person interviews. I find out October 6th! I am so nervous!

Life now-a-days:

School is taking up a lot of time this semester with 3 group projects! Which means a lot of meetings.

I work in the nursery on Sunday and then attend Financial Peace University afterward so that is lots of time on Sunday to keep me busy.

I work with a young girl who has developmental disabilities once a week.

I start training to become a certified sexual assault counselor this week. That training is 12 hours a week for the month of October.

I work out about 5-6 times a week.

I work 20 hours a week for my internship.

I babysit part time during the week.

I have a ton of reading for school, not for fun!

My weeks are so full. My mind doesn't really have time to miss Texas. This is a much better year in comparison to last fall!!

I am very grateful to be a busy bee this semester!

I am officially down 10 lbs since the challenge started!! Only 11 a way from my 199 party and I hope to be in the 190's by the time I go back to Texas in December! I am oh-so-excited! I wore my new pair of size 14 jeans the other day!!

Life is good. I can't complain. I can't believe I have blogged 100 times!!

Two days until Thursday

Today I ate: Breakfast - Nothing, I wasn't hungry and woke up late, but I ate as soon as I got back from my hour class. Lunch - Chicken and Chickpeas Dinner - Stuffed sun dried tomato and pesto chicken (Yum!!) Today wasn't very hard. Eating went well .. the work out on the other hand not so much. My body is tired and I ache all over. I went to the gym for Zumba and it was boring and no fun so I only lasted 15 minutes then came home to get in bed. I think my body needs a day or two to rest and recharge. I have worked out diligently this past month since I have been back to school.

My 1-4 class today was sooooo long and so boring. It was hard for me to make it the entire time. I chewed gum like crazy! Two days until I find out about TFA ..

I love fall because of pumpkin bread and candy corn!! If you want to send me either or I would love it! Next week I will have to buy both! The one thing I like about NY is the changing colors of the leaves, so pretty.

Carb Free Week and FB Chat not working

Since Facebook Chat isn't working I think I may blog instead. For some reason yesterday I just started crying and couldn't stop. I went to bed instead. I think I was just stressed, homesick, and mb my hormones were off? Idk that has never happened before. I was totally okay and then out of no where.

I started my internship today and it seems as if it is going to be soooo much fun! I am definitely excited. I started a carb free week today. Breakfast - eggs, lunch - salad, dinner- taco soup. Today was yummy but I sure wanted to go get some frozen yogurt! I started a book last night "Same Kind of Different As Me" so far so good and I read it while I worked out this morning. It made time go by so fast! I don't think I have started anything else recently, but now I have to go start reading for my hardest class this semester.

Starburst Jelly Beans

I will have to admit I am up to 4 cheats now! 2 of which I accumulated today and yesterday. Yesterday I went and got Coldstone, yum yum! That was definitely a planned cheat. Today I was babysitting and they had jelly beans! I had 3 to start with and was like I might as well enjoy them and make it a cheat and so I did!

This weigh in also proved to be very successful. I have been working out hardcore and so I was glad to see that in a month I have lost 6.6lbs. Yippee!! Only 16 pounds left until my 199 party! This year I have been almost as high as 240 .. ugghh! Slowly but surely I am getting down. I was very excited to try on pants for work and I picked all size 14!! :) Hopefully by my birthday I will be extremely close to 199 maybe in the 200's and then by the time I come home for the holidays in the 190's.

As of now I am enjoying watching the Tech vs UT game!! Go Tech!! :)

I keep thinking about Thursday and how I will find out if I made it to the next round of Teach for America. I am oh-so-very nervous!!

Tomorrow I have a nap, workout, and school reading planned and Monday I start my internship.

The weekend is almost over ..

You Capture - Up Close

I was visiting a fellow beauties blog, and saw that she had participated in a You Capture-Up close weekly photo challenge. I love to take pictures and sensed and awesome opportunity! This weeks challenge was to get some up close photos! Here are a few:

I was very flower happy! :)

Decalogues

I read a blog the other day that had decalogues on them and I thought that since today is Thursday (the start of my weekend) I would write one on what's been going on ..

1. I am so thankful I was able to get a paid internship for this semester. I applied for 5, got 4 interviews and 3 offers so far. {edit:as of this morning I got called to interview for all 5!} I haven't heard back from the other place, but I am going to take an internship with the state department of WIC.
2. I got DVR so now I can watch more of my favorite tv shows
3. I am going carb free for 5 days with a friend from school starting next Wednesday.
4. I am enjoying working out more and more. I workout probably 6 of the 7 days of the week.
5. I will be back working in the one and two year old classroom on Sunday, hopefully it goes better.
6. I tried Zumba this morning and it was so much fun.
7. I am thinking I may get Coldstone tomorrow.
8. I start a Financial Freedom Class on Sunday and I am pretty excited because I have heard great things about it.
9. I want to use this weekend to rest and watch lifetime!
10. Hopefully we make it to the fair on Sunday!

Have a great weekend!

Life goes on ..

Although sometimes we might get stressed .. life goes on

Although we may have to make difficult decisions .. life goes on

When we feel as if we can't go any farther .. life goes on

Even though we get hurt, get tired of studying or don't want to work out .. life goes on

Regardless of the decisions we have to make, the things we are holding on to, or the things we are afraid to reach for .. life still goes on

Life is too short to have shoulda, coulda, wouldas. Just buckle up and let life take us where we need to go. Life will still go on whether we are ready or not. Our lives may not be perfect now, but they are where they need to be. We may yearn for a goal thats rooted deep inside our hearts, and that is where we need to be. We have but one life to live and life matters! Do what makes your heart play a joyful sound. It's never too late, but remember whatever decision you make life goes on.

Teach for America

I just submitted my application! Next week I will know if I got to the next round which is phone interviews!! Please pray for me and this situation!!

No coloring

If you know me you know that I absolutely love children, hence the reason I signed up to work in the nursery with the one's and two's. After church this morning I am second guessing my idea. I think I am going to have to tell them I am sorry, but this just isn't for me. This was just different in many ways .. for example: I asked if I could sit the kids at the table so they could color and I was told, they can't color on the table or they might draw on it. This was just one of the many things that happened this morning that just didn't fit together for me. I don't think I can volunteer in a room where I don't agree with the way things are run .. sigh. Now to tell them that I think it won't work.

In case you were wondering about that outline .. I am almost done. For the life of me I can't find the average budget or size of the nations emergency departments. But oh well, my brain is exhausted.

So much school work not enough time ..

Until I get this outline done I don't really have time to blog. This school work is kicking my butt! Google and I are not in agreement. So I am going to take a study break and go work out and then mb Saturday night church instead of Sunday morning and then back on the grind. Please pray that this outline and what I am searching for becomes clear within the next 24 hours so I can be done before the school week starts. This week is full to the brim!

Cheat, Pea Plants and Life

{Disclaimer - All of these pics are from my phone! }

One day this week in class our teacher had us wear green and yellow so we could do the pea plant crossing experiment like Gregor Mendel. It was so fun and I didn't expect a class of grad students to actually participate and half wear yellow and green. I snuck a picture and this is the best I could get while being discrete! haha!

I used my second cheat this week for chicken fried chicken! Yum! From Cracker Barrel!

Life seems to be really good right now. The Challenge is going good. I was down the first week and I hope that tomorrow proves as successful .. not necessarily a lot of loss, but something .. I hope. haha! School is going good. I got interviews at 4 of the 5 internships I applied to. Now what to use the next cheat on? Hehe! I am thinking Coldstone. It makes me laugh how I have planned it out. I thought about using a cheat today but decided not to since tomorrow we weigh in. I am also going to apply to Teach for America - so keep me in your prayers! I would really love love love to do this! It is such a wonderful opportunity. This week was really busy but I hope to blog more this coming up week about our pot luck, working in the nursery at a new church, choosing and internship, and submitting my application!

1 cheat down!!

"Good things come to those who don't eat ice cream!"

After what seems like a long time, but what has really only been a couple of days I was able to get the cheat I wanted. The Red Velvet cake part just melted in my mouth and the cream cheese/cheesecake part was soooooo sweet. It was a little too sweet for my new found taste buds! I loved this dessert this summer, but I do not think I would use it as a cheat again. It was like a sugar overdose for my poor veggie and fruit eating body. It's weird how your taste for things change over time.

My working out is going good and I can report that after two weeks I am down 5 lbs!! Only 5 left until my Challenge 3 goal is met and I am now 5 lbs closer to being under 200lbs! There will be a giant party the day I get to 199!

This semester is going to be filled with reading, but I will survive! I worked on some of my reading this morning and have some to do before my Tuesday class and my Thursday class. We submitted our resumes and internship preference on Friday, so I am praying for a wonderful paid internship experience for this semester!

God is soo good and I am just in awe of how much he is continually doing for me. I never took the time to just sit back and take it in and recently I have and I am learning more and more to depend on God and his timing. God's timing is always the best timing.

The cheesecake that wasn't meant to be

So .. today I planned to buy my first cheat to save for Friday afternoon. I already knew that I wanted a piece of Red Velvet Cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory so I drive into town and pull up into a parking spot oober excited that I had picked a cheat worth my while. I look at all of the cheesecakes and don't see the one I want but it's on the menu so I go to the register to order my piece and the lady says "I'm sorry we're out and it could be awhile before we get more." Bummer! I guess it wasn' t meant to be. She tried to talk me into buying another piece of cheesecake, but I wasn't interested my mind had been set! So .. as for now I have still not used a cheat. BUT I will have some cheesecake, red velvet cheesecake to be exact before these 17 weeks are up!

Worked out during Oprah today so I went for 55 minutes on the elliptical! Time always goes so much faster when I have good tv to watch.

People look at me like I am crazy when they ask me why I am counting cheats and why I have cheats in my wallet. They also look at me like I'm crazy when I say I am almost down 20 lbs since the start of the challenge. But I just smile in my head! Counting cheats and being a part of this amazing group works for me! In April I was in a size 18 and my friend Jennifer gave me some size 14 shorts a couple of weeks ago and they fit! Yippee, a size 14!! I can already tell this is going to be the best challenge ever! Third times a charm!